Hello
by McRaider
Summary: Five Phone Calls Burt wishes he never had to answer and one that he was glad he answered


Hello  
McRaider  
Summary: Five Phone Calls Burt wishes he never had to answer and one that he was glad he answered  
Author's Note: Based on this prompt .com/glee_angst_?thread=3796985#t3798521

Burt Hummel was busy working on a carburetor when the phone rang to his shop. "Carl!" He called out, expecting to hear his long time friend and co-worker to answer. Realizing that Carl had clearly stepped out for a smoke, Burt threw his rag down on the edge of the car and headed into his office. "Hummel Tire and Lube," he stated.

"Is this Robert Hummel," Burt grimaced, hating his proper name, "This is Burt Hummel, who's this?"

"I'm Dr. Kevin Lincoln, there's been an accident." Burt's mind instantly raced to his son and wife. They'd been driving back from a day in Columbus. "Are they all right?"

The sigh he heard left Burt seeking a nearby chair as he desperately tried to imagine if one of them was dead. They were his world, his everything, he felt his heart constrict, unaware how hard he was gripping the phone till his hand began to throb slightly, "Your son Kurt is going to be fine, he's got some serious scrapes and bruises, but he'll be all right."

His heart unclenched just slightly, as long as his baby boy was okay. But then his mind hurried to his wife, Laurie. "And…and Laurie?"

"I'm so sorry Mr. Hummel." Those words. Burt didn't really hear anything else as he hung up his phone, vaguely recalling where to go. It was amazing how four simple words could be so completely terrifying and devastating. Burt looked at the phone he'd just hung up, and growled in a fit of pure rage as he threw it against a nearby wall. Sinking back into the chair, he buried his head in his hands, trying desperately to regain some semblance of composure.

Even as he managed to scribble a note to Carl, get in his truck, drive to the Allen County Hospital all he was stuck thinking was maybe if he hadn't answered the phone, maybe if he'd just ignored it, perhaps his life wouldn't have changed. Sitting beside his helpless son, he hated himself for answered the phone call, and even more for the small spark of anger he felt that his son had lived but Laurie hadn't. She'd hate him for that, she'd hate Burt for wanting her back instead of their baby. But he felt so exhausted and torn…how was he supposed to feel? "Daddy?" A whimper came from his child.

"Hey little guy," Burt managed to choke, trying to hold back the wave of anguish.

"Where's mommy."

Burt shook his head, "Kurt…" He closed his eyes and kissed his son's hand. "Get some rest baby, we'll talk when you're better." He lied, not ever wanting to talk about this. He didn't want to be a single parent, not to a child he barely understood even on the best days. 'God damn phones' were his final thoughts as he put his head down on the bed and cried.

o0o

He'd come home from work early that day, some people didn't believe that Burt took a day off, but in reality when he felt as exhausted as he had lately, he took more days off then he could count. Carl seemed to understand, knowing that the man was still coping with the passing of his wife only three months ago. He sank wearily into his chair just as the phone rang. He glanced over at it, and pulled it from its cradle. "Hello?"

"Is Mrs. Hummel available?" Burt felt his stomach drop, they'd gotten in touch with most people, everyone knew, but Burt felt his mind rush back to that day, "No, she's dead this is her husband," he stated and slammed the phone down. Leaning his head back he felt his eyes burning. God he hated this, he hated feeling fine for days, weeks and then suddenly someone said something, or something smelled like her, or god forbid his son sang and he lost it.

Burt wished he could unplug the phones, and make the world leave him alone as he struggled to get past the death of his beautiful Laurie. He forced down the overwhelming stinging in his eyes. He stood, blindly heading up to their bedroom, where he gently opened a couple of the drawers. He'd seen Kurt do it for the first time three weeks ago, on a bad day at school the boy had come upstairs, opened all the drawers just slightly-as if he was trying to keep as much of her perfume in the drawers. Instantly her scent hit him and he felt the tears pouring down his face. He leaned his head against one of the drawers, knocking it just slightly, letting the brief pain in the back of his head override the pain he felt in his stomach.

He didn't know how long he sat there, considering the phone call that had brought back the wash of all the memories. "Daddy?" The gentle voice of his eight year old stepping into the room. "Are you crying?" The child was far too perceptive for his age. Burt immediately wiped at his cheeks, shaking his head no and reached out for his son. Kurt instantly came, curling up on his daddy's lap, he positioned his head under the man's chin, listening to his heartbeat. "I miss her too daddy."

Burt nodded, hating that his eight year old was comforting him. He pressed his lips to his son's head. "We're in this together baby." He had to believe that as he held his child close, believing they'd eventually be okay. Until then, Burt would hold his son until dinner time, then once Kurt was asleep, Burt assured himself he'd call his parents and maybe talk to them and ease the pain…or maybe he'd call Laurie's mother.

o0o

Despite it being a Saturday afternoon, Sears was surprisingly busy. He wandered around, looking for a couple parts he couldn't get anywhere else, hands stuffed in his pockets to stave off the chill that had hit him when he'd gotten out of his car. He was standing in the auto section, looking over various parts he'd need, making a mental list of what he wanted to get now and what could wait a few days, when his cell phone vibrated in his pockets. Pulling it out he sighed realizing Carl was calling him from the garage.

"Carl, I'll be back in fifteen min-"

"You need to get here now! There's an ambulance on the way already, Kurt's hurt." Carl didn't say anything further, he hung up the phone, leaving Burt in an overwhelming state of panic. He put his basket down, dodged a couple people on his way out and ran out to his car. Starting the car he grimaced as it struggled to start, "DAMN IT!" Burt yelled banging on the steering wheel. He could hear the sirens down the road. Throwing his car door opened he slammed it behind him and ran down the street, desperately hoping he'd get there in time.

"KURT!" He yelled, why did all the worst things have to start with a phone call. He arrived just as the ambulance pulled into the parking lot. "KURT!" He yelled again. He rushed inside, just as the paramedics hopped out, grabbing their own equipment to assess the situation.

Kurt lay on the ground, his eyes were open but he didn't appear to be very lucid, Carl was holding a wad of clean rags to the back of the boy's head with one hand, the other was pressing another wad of rags to the boy's shoulder. "What the hell?" Burt dropped to his knees as the paramedics also joined them.

"The lift failed," Carl offered, "I was working underneath, and Kurt was working to fixed the wheel and side door, when it went down, he helped me get out in time, but the door hit Kurt in the head and shoulders." Carl looked up at his best friend, "I'm sorry Burt, I'm so sorry."

Burt shook his head, "It's okay," Burt offered, he gripped his best friend's hand gently as he looked at the paramedics. "How is he?"

The blonde man gave a brief smile, "We're going to take him to the hospital take a few x-rays, would you like to join us?"

"Yes please, Carl-"

"I'll take care of everything boss."

Burt nodded, "I left the truck at Sears."

"Don't you worry." The medics came back a moment later with the back board and a stretcher. They gently strapped Kurt down and lifted him onto the stretcher. "Kurt, we're going to strap you down to the stretcher, your dad's gonna be right here with you the whole time, okay?"

Kurt gave the faintest of nods, before they strapped him down. Moments later Burt was on the way to the ER with his son. He couldn't help but notice the fear in his pre-teen's eyes. "How ya doin' kiddo?"

"Head hurts," Kurt grimaced.

Burt chuckled softly, "They may have to cut your hair or shave your head to put stitches in, okay?" Burt wasn't allowed to go into the exam room, but the medics assured him that aside from a loss of blood Kurt would probably be fine. Burt closed his eyes and let his fears overcome him as he looked at his bloody hands. "Jesus," He whispered hands shaking slightly.

"Mr. Hummel?" A nurse came over to him, with a cup of coffee and a blanket, "Are you all right?" She asked sitting down and wrapping the blanket around his shoulders. "Your son was just taken for x-rays, then they'll put the stitches in, the doctor says at this point he seems to be fine, probably a concussion. Do you need anything?"

"Why does everything bad start with a phone call?" He asked gently.

She smiled and squeezed his hand, "Just luck I guess."

"God I can't take many more of these phone calls."

The nurse wasn't really sure what he was talking about but she gently rubbed his back, before she handed him the coffee. "The doctor should be back in a few minutes."

"Thanks," He managed shakily. His son was twelve, what had he been thinking letting a kid as small as Kurt work in the garage. Burt sighed, he knew the answer to that question, he'd been thinking of ways to keep from going bankrupt from his son's spending habits. So he'd told his son if he worked a few hours every weekend Burt would give him money to spend money as he pleased.

o0o

Burt Hummel heard the phone ring and smiled warmly at his customer, "'Scuse me," He offered, glancing around the office as to why none of his employees were around to answer the phone. "Hummel Tires and Lube."

"Is this Burt Hummel?"

Burt replied immediately, "Yeah who's this?"

"Your son's a fag."

He felt pure anger flood through his veins. 'Your son's a fag,' the words kept echoing over and over again in his mind. 'Your son's a fag'…' 'Your son's in danger'…your son's gonna die…those words could mean anything at some point, they could mean the end of his child's life.

Deciding he needed some damn coffee he began to physically abuse the coffee machine when he heard his son's voice. "Dad! Dad! I hit it…the high F, the magical note for Defying Gravity…I hit it, it means I'm going to win!"

"That's great, good for you, just how long till the coffee's ready," Burt grumbled, he shouldn't be angry at his son, it was Kurt's fault some idiot took it upon themselves to inform Burt that his child was queer. He walked away his son to mess with something so he wouldn't have to look his child in the eye and see the anger. He didn't want Kurt to think it was his fault Burt was mad.

"What's going on?"

"I got a phone call this morning, the anonymous kind. Some dude telling me my son was a fag." Burt offered looking at his son.

The reply was worse than Burt had ever imagined, "Oh, well that's no big deal, I get that all the time." 'Damn it Kurt!' Burt thought, you're supposed to tell me this stuff.

"Yeah well I don't," Burt hated how that sounded, as though he was ashamed of his child, he wasn't but he didn't like getting calls that told him his only child was wrong. He stepped forward, trying to remember his son was occasionally sensitive and that he was still a teenager who needed support. "Now look Kurt, I try to do right by you, try to open some doors. What father wouldn't do that for his kid? And I know it's good for you to be out there with all this Glee Club stuff. I just…I don't want you to get hurt." Burt sighed, realizing how bad he made it probably sound. He loved this kid, didn't Kurt realize that, ever since his wife had died, he'd been so heavily tied to this child he didn't even understand what he felt for this boy most of this time.

Kurt looked at him unsure. "So you don't want me to audition for the solo?"

Burt sighed, hating that that's how his son was seeing it. "No, let me be clear, no one pushes the Hummels' around, especially cowards on the phone." Burt felt the flair of anger die down again as his thoughts went to Laurie, she'd always been able to calm Burt down, before he faced his son. She'd been so good at it, sometimes Burt wondered if Kurt would've been better off if Laurie had lived and Burt had died. "Sometimes I just wish your mom was still around, you know, she was better at handling this kind of thing, handling me." Burt looked at his son, feeling bad for the unsure emotions behind those pale green blue eyes, "Congrats on the Cool A, or the high C or whatever."

"High F." Kurt corrected lightly.

Nodding, Burt walked away, well aware his son remained standing there, no doubt feeling gutted. Burt prayed his son knew he'd do anything for his boy, absolutely anything, even if it meant giving up his own life for his son."

o0o

Burt grunted as he heard the phone ring, Carole was snuggled up close to him, he mumbled something as he rolled over and grabbed the phone out of its cradled, "'lo," He managed tiredly.

"Daddy," the voice on the other end of the phone wasn't the one he was accustomed to hearing. It was a voice that sent him into panic mode. His son was nearly twenty now, adult men didn't use the term 'daddy' unless something was really wrong. He was wide awake now as he swung his legs off the edge of the bed.

"Kurt? What's wrong?"

"Daddy…I…" He heard the sob on the other end.

Burt took a shaky breath, "Baby, do I need to come get you?" He heard a sniffle and could imagine the head shaking.

"Please," it was a weak request, but Burt nodded.

"I can be there in an hour and a half buddy, are you some place safe?"

"'partment," the sob came.

"Okay baby, I'm coming. I'm going to give Carole the phone, stay on the line okay, do we need to call an ambulance?"

"Daddy," he heard the sob again.

Carole looked at her husband, "I'll drive, the roads will be clear this time of night we can make it down to Columbus faster." Kurt was studying his gen eds at OSU for the past year and a half, once he finished there he was headed to NYU for acting and theatre.

For Burt it was the longest and most terrifying hour and a half of his life as they made their way to the apartment, banging on the door. When it opened, they were surprised to find Finn already there, "He's not physically…well come on," Finn waved them in.

"Kurt?" the young man was sitting in the bedroom, huddled in the corner crying as he clutched the phone.

"I'm sorry!" He sobbed as he reached out for his daddy like he had as a baby.

Burt stepped over to his son, one arm under his knees, the other behind Kurt' shoulders and he gently lifted him up, kissing his forehead. "What happened son?" Burt asked either of the boys who would answer. He knew it wouldn't be Kurt, the boy had already taken to sobbing into his shirt.

Finn sighed, his hands shaky, "I came home and…Jesse was…" Finn closed his eyes. "He didn't get to, but he almost…"

Burt growled as he clutched his son closer, realizing he couldn't be angry right now. "I'm here baby." A small part of him was thankful his son still sought him out in the worst of situations. He couldn't fix rape or attempted rape, he couldn't promise to fix everything. But he'd sit here and hold his son as long as it was needed. He hated phones, every bad thing he could ever recall in his life had started with a phone call. He pressed his head to his son's head, wondering if he was ever going to get a phone call that was good.

o0o

Burt was sitting at dinner, watching his and Carole's daughter, Amanda talking animatedly about her latest middle school crush. Burt was desperately wishing his daughter would go back to thinking boys were icky when the phone rang. "Hello?" He answered.

"Hi grandpa," A masculine voice on the other end called him.

"Puckerman, you're not funny, I'm not that-" Suddenly his eyes grew wide, "Grandpa?" he asked shakily. He could almost hear Noah grinning on the other end of the phone, "Quinn…Quinn…" He felt his chest constrict.

"We'll see you at the hospital in ten minutes, we're in room 214."

Burt nodded as if his son-in-law could see the nod. "We have to go," He offered hanging up the phone, his heart racing, but for the first time, in excitement.

They arrived at the hospital in record time, headed up to 214, the door opened and Kurt stepped out, he was grinning from ear to ear and glowing. "Hi!" He greeted his father with a huge hug. "Would you like to meet your granddaughters?"

"…Granddaughters?"

Kurt nodded and pushed the door open, Quinn lay on the bed, giggling as Puck held one of the tiny infants in his arms. Quinn was holding the other one. Burt felt his heart swell with pride. "Hi sweetheart," He offered kissing Quinn's forehead. To everyone's surprise she'd openly volunteered to carry Kurt and Noah's child.

"Hi dad," She offered gently. Burt had taken her under his wing ever since the boys had divulged her father had left in high school when she'd gotten pregnant. He looked down at the little girl in her arms.

"Can I?" He asked lightly.

She nodded, "Of course." She looked at Carole who was now sitting beside Noah, gently stroking the baby's cheek. "They're beautiful."

Kurt smiled as he joined his father's side and looked at his daughter. "What are you naming them?" Burt asked his son.

Kurt grinned this time, looking at Noah, who nodded. "Well that's Sarah," Kurt offered to the girl that Noah was holding."

"And this little angel?"

"Dad, meet your granddaughter, Laurie."

Burt felt his eyes sting as he looked down at the baby who did look a little like his deceased wife. "They're beautiful, son."

Kurt smiled as he nodded and hugged his father's waist. "I know." He replied softly leaning his head against his dad's shoulders as the adults cooed over the babies. Burt smiled, glad that he'd finally gotten at least one phone call that ended in the best news ever. He was a grandpa.


End file.
